Quilter Plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Quilter Plc decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,207 shares of the company’s stock after selling 269 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.2% of Quilter Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Quilter Plc’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $17,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,393,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,589,167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,028 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,846,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,791,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,877 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $4,139,107,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,407,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,997,886,000 after purchasing an additional 915,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,945,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,617,750,000 after purchasing an additional 799,194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.45% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $144.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.71. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $109.16 and a 12 month high of $157.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.27. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 24.47% and a return on equity of 39.71%. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $1.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.54%.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $173.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $163.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Co raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $163.47.

In other news, Director William D. Perez acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $127.69 per share, for a total transaction of $63,845.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 16,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,046,870.70. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches and develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the health care field worldwide. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices. The Consumer segment offers baby care products under the JOHNSON'S brand; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DABAO, JOHNSON'S Adult, LE PETITE MARSEILLAIS, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; over-the-counter medicines, including acetaminophen products under the TYLENOL brand; cold, flu, and allergy products under the SUDAFED brand; allergy products under the BENADRYL and ZYRTEC brands; ibuprofen products under the MOTRIN IB brand; and acid reflux products under the PEPCID brand.

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